Hollywood Unions Warn U.S. Film & TV Production Is On The Brink In Latest Economic Report

Another alarm bell went off Monday on the state of U.S.-based film and television production with the release of an extensive report commissioned by several of the Hollywood unions that illustrates what industry insiders have feared for some time: After a quarter century of rapid transformation and external disruptions, U.S. film and television production is on the brink.

From 1999 to 2024, the share of production spending by major U.S. studios on movies filmed either partially or primarily within the country declined 32 percentage points from 74% to 42%. The share of TV production spending is down 30 percentage points, from 94% to 64%, per the report.

This is not a surprising metric, given the exodus of major studios like Marvel and Lucasfilm, which have moved virtually all high-budget production overseas including for the upcoming Avengers films. Paramount, Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal have all done the same for recent tentpoles like Barbie, Wicked, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

The report finds that the share of the actual number of films by major U.S. studios on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined 12 points from 66% to 54%. TV episodes have seen a 26-point decline from 96% of television episodes by major U.S. studios filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. to just 70%.

The impact on workers is evident. For total cast and crew working on major studio films, the share of cast and crew working on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined 29 points from 72% to 43%. For TV, the share is down 28 points from 86% to 58%.

“When read in tandem with a recent study by the Motion Picture Association, unless action is taken America will continue to lose ground in retaining this industry and the middle-class jobs it provides,” the unions said in a statement on Monday.

Last month, the MPA warned of a continued windfall in jobs and spending if the federal government did not step in to implement its proposed tax incentive. That report also said the 20% federal tax credit that could be “stacked” onto state benefits could create $250 billion in additional gross economic value and support an annual average of 143,50 additional jobs across the country.

The latest economic report released Monday was commissioned by the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters), the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW).

The analysis focused on scripted, live-action productions by larger studios with budgets of at least $5 million for feature films and $1 million for TV episodes under 41 minutes or $1.7 million for longer episodes.